| Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London, England. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which had stood from 1923 until 2003. The stadium is England's national football stadium, and thus hosts the majority of the England national team home matches and the FA Cup Final – the final of England's primary domestic club football competition. It is considered one of the most well known football stadiums in the world, and is considered a hub for the English game. Wembley Stadium is owned by the governing body of English football, the Football Association, whose headquarters are in the stadium, through its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). With 90,000 seats, it is the largest stadium in the UK and the second-largest stadium in Europe, behind Barcelona's Camp Nou.
Designed by Populous and Foster and Partners, the stadium is crowned by the 134-metre-high (440 ft) Wembley Arch which serves aesthetically as a landmark across London as well as structurally, with the arch supporting over 75% of the entire roof load. The stadium was built by Australian firm Multiplex at a cost of £798 million (£1.51 billion today). Two partially retractable roof structures over the east and west ends of the stadium can be opened to allow sunlight and aid pitch growth.
In addition to England home games and the FA Cup final, the stadium also hosts other major games in English football, including the season-opening FA Community Shield, the finals of lower tiered cup competition – the FA Trophy, the FA Vase, finals of the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy, the FA Cup semi-finals, and the promotion play-off finals of the tiers two, three, four, and five of the English football league system. Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License - Full article |